Color: Head and body with a vermiculate pattern, the darker colored areas brownish, the paler ones bluish above grading to silvery below; darker lines much broader than paler ones on nape and head, about equal in breadth posteriorly. Head with a golden flush; lines on cheek blue. Dark lines breaking into spots on caudal fin, spots arranged in 4 vertical rows. Dark spots also present on soft parts of dorsal and anal fins, arranged in rows, the proximal row prominent; other parts of median fins dusky; pectoral fins hyaline; pelvic fins dusky and golden yellow.

Height 1.8-1.9, 2.3-2.5 in length with caudal. Head 3.2-3.7, 4-4.5 in length with caudal. Eye 3.2-3.6, 1.4-1.9 in snout, and 1-1.3 in slightly convex inter orbital space. First dorsal spine somewhat less than eye. Following spines increasing in length to the seventh, which equals snout or snout and half eye, the spines behind the seventh somewhat shorter, but the last again as long as the seventh. Soft dorsal more or less pointed, the median rays longest, equal to snout and eye or half diameter of eye shorter. First anal spine more than eye, following spine increasing in length to the last, which equals snout or snout and half diameter of eye. Soft anal similar to soft dorsal. Pectorals about half length of snout shorter than head. Ventrals equal to snout and half eye. Caudal emarginate. Caudal peduncle about as long as deep, its least depth somewhat more or less than eye. Preopercular angle 91A°-102A°. Strong overlapping scales cover cheeks. Midline of thorax scaled, not pelvic ridges. Anterior nostril with low flange, broadened slightly posteriorly. Spines stout, blunt or pungent, and venomous. Dorsal spines (total): 13 - 13, Dorsal soft rays (total): 10 - 10, Anal spines: 7, Anal soft rays: 9, Vertebrae: 13.

Dioecious, external fertilization, nonguarders, open water or substratum egg scatterers. Throughout summer, adults form inshore breeding groups of several hundred individuals on the 7th or 8th days of the lunar month, pairs break from these groups to spawn. The species has a high fecundity of 350,000 or spawning season.

Pillai, PKM and Augustine, SK (2000) A code list of common marine living resources of the Indian seas CMFRI Special Publication No.12 CMFRI 1-115 Available at - eprints.cmfri.org.in/3975/1/Special_Publication_No_12_Revised.pdf